Tag Archives: Pride & Prejudice movie

He proposed to his girlfriend while they were making dinner at his apartment. They texted me the news, including photos of the ring. A few days later they made the announcement on Facebook.

A modern love story.

I couldn’t help but compare that to Mr. Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice. (I watched it again last night when my cable box was on the fritz.)

He proposed the first time in the rain. They argued, and she rejected him.

The second time (pictured here) they met in the middle of a field — in the middle of the night — in their night clothes.

Then Mr. Darcy asked Elizabeth’s father for her hand in marriage before the family had even eaten breakfast.

For such a proper time in history, that whole thing seems a bit scandalous in comparison….don’t you think? Imagine your own son or daughter wandering into your front lawn at dawn in their PJs talking weddings. You’d think they were drunk.

We were all reminded of this fact during Sunday’s Oscar broadcast — for three plus painful hours. Co-hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco were oil and water on stage; no casting director is going to be beating down their doors any time soon to pair them up in a movie.

But what about the truly great film couples?

I pondered this very important question as I vegged out in front of the TV last night, re-watching City of Angels. (I was tired, okay? Plus, that movie was made back in the days when Nicolas Cage was a good actor.)

Here’s my list of great film couples (in no particular order):

Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling,The Notebook

Vivenne Leigh and Clark Gable, Gone with the Wind

Matthew MacFadyen and Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice

Colin Firth, Renee Zellweger (and Hugh Grant), Bridget Jones’ Diary

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca

Patrick Swazye and Jennifer Grey, Dirty Dancing

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain

Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand, The Way We Were

Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, When Harry Met Sally

Ryan O’Neal and Ali McGraw, Love Story

It’s not an exhaustive list. In fact, I’m sure I’ve missed one of your favorites.